BOOK REVIEW (3): Falling for the Rebel Heir

BOOK REVIEW:

Falling for the Rebel Heir

So far out of all the romances I’ve read recently…yes, I’m counting December. (For me that’s a lot with very little non-romance read breaks); Ally Blake’s Falling for the Rebel Heir is the most…poetic read?

It works because the heroine, Kendall York is a Lit major who gets the hero, Hudson “Hud” Bennington the III onto Shakespeare, and the hero’s supposed to be the broody, artsy type and all, yet it sort of threw me for a loop sometimes.

Most probably just me, but I kept re-reading a lot of lines trying to understand what was going on. If it was introspective, then I had trouble connecting with the emotion(s) trying to be defined...

Despite all this, I liked the book. A lot.

There were so many great lines (and now I’m regretting not documenting them along the way for this review). But here’s an easy one I found (at the end of the book—last paragraph, so I’m totally cheating):

As usual such sweet intimacy wasn’t enough. He lowered his head further, placing his lips over hers, branding her and marking his place for later. For another night spent in a strange bed, in a strange town, a million miles from where she’d ever thought she’d end up, but in the same pair of strong arms she knew she’d sleep in for the rest of her life.

The plotting was (is?) amazing!

For a 50K novel, there wasn’t too much of a word count allowance, but Ms. Blake really managed to weave the internal conflict pushing apart Kendall and Hud from page one. And it isn’t “bigger than the universe” type conflicts. Like the very enclosed setting of the book—most of the story takes place in this slightly decrepit mansion bordered away from the nearby small town by woods—Kendall’s issues with her body and self-confidence, and Hud’s wanderlust cure for loneliness echoes the insular environment throughout most of the story.

Also warning! This is a sweet romance. Remember that means no sex on page, and the story was more of a HFN with more room than usual for certain milestone markers in Hud and Kendall’s future.

What I didn’t like:

Hud’s name. I thought I would get used to it. But it continued to jar me. I’m not a stickler for character names. It’s like judging someone IRL for having a name you might never consider for your child… It’s dumb. Yet it’s there. It bothered me, and I’m taking it into account. Hud was a stupid nickname. I personally would have liked him to have just stayed Hudson. But that’s just me. –shrugs-

The really open end—what did Kendall and Hud decide on? I felt like there wasn’t much of a relationship compromise. Or the compromise wasn’t very clear…? Who knows…

What happened to Orlando? Again, not clear. I’m assuming Kendall’s good friend-slash-roomie has the deaf, old dog in her care, but I didn’t notice much of a connection between the two to make me believe Kendall’s dog is in her care. And this point brings me to the one above. Maybe all the florid language confused me and I missed something. Which might be my fault, but I don’t remember there being much info on this.

I did love the characterization as well as the plot. Ms. Blake really knows how to make her characters work and in the world of romantic literature, characters always come first. If they fall flat, their goals, motivations and conflicts fall flat and the plot will collapse in on itself.

Still if you’re looking for a feel-good book (and like me, possibly wondering if Kendall’s friend/roomie, Taffy, has her own story!), I recommend your reading Falling for the Rebel Heir.

My verdict:

✮✮✮✮

(4 stars)